Typical systems for monitoring load on networked machines may include a first machine (which may be referred to as a collator) monitoring the status of a second machine (which may be referred to as a worker). In some conventional systems, a worker machine transmits the worker machine's status or status history to a collator machine, either in response to a request for status or at certain preset times. In some of these systems, a worker machine transmits a metric to a collator machine whether or not there is a substantial change in the metric (i.e., “blind” reporting). In another of these embodiments, a worker machine responds even if the network traffic is high or if there is a network disruption, and this may result in unnecessary, excessive network load. In still another of these embodiments, the collator machine processes incoming responses from worker machines regardless of whether the associated metrics have changed, which may result in processing inefficiency.
Typically, the number of metrics associated with the worker machine's status or status history is pre-configured and remains static. In some embodiments, when transmitting a response, the worker machine may either transmit all metrics associated with a worker machine's status or not transmit any metrics at all. Typically, conventional monitoring systems do not include intelligent processes for a collator machine to dynamically alter the granularity of a collator machine's request for status. Moreover, conventional systems generally do not include intelligent processes for a worker machine to dynamically determine the granularity of information to include in a response. In some embodiments, the metrics for monitoring are built into the systems and may not be adjusted easily. In other embodiments, the monitoring systems may require worker machines to communicate with either a central collator machine or with other worker machines, and the metrics monitored for each worker machine may not be updated easily or independently of the central collator machine or other worker machines.